The silence in the Queen's private sanctum was not the silence of peace; it was the heavy, suffocating stillness that precedes a Heavenly Tribulation. The moonlight of Aetheleon, filtered through the violet-tinted glass, fell across Beatrice's face, highlighting the lines of a woman who had carried the weight of a world for too long.
Rayn stood before her, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped beast. His "Cold King" persona, the shield he had used to conquer the boardrooms of Earth, felt like a thin sheet of glass against the searing gaze of the Sovereign.
"Can I tell her?" Rayn's mind raced with the speed of a supercomputer. "What would happen if I say that a Primordial Dragon—one that could erase this entire planet with a single breath—has entered my mind and granted me its power?"
Rayn swallowed hard. He looked into his grandmother's eyes. "No, Grandmother. I am not a dragon. I am a human just like you and my mother."
The words were English, a language Beatrice did not understand. She tilted her head, her white hair shimmering like starlight. To her, Rayn's voice was merely a sequence of complex, foreign vibrations. She realized the language barrier was a wall they could not yet climb.
"Rayn," she said in Axleric, her voice soft. "I cannot understand your speech. But the soul does not need a tongue to speak. I will ask you simply: if you are a dragon, nod yes. If you are not, nod no."
Rayn didn't hesitate. He looked her directly in the eye and shook his head 'no.'
A visible wave of relief washed over Beatrice. The crushing pressure in the room dissipated instantly, replaced by a warmth that felt almost alien to the cold stone tower. She reached out, her hands trembling slightly, and drew Rayn into a soft embrace. She pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.
"I love you, Rayn," she whispered.
But as she pulled away, she saw the look on Rayn's face. It wasn't the look of a grandson comforted by his elder; it was a look of profound disgust. Rayn's eyes were cold, his lips curled in a subtle sneer.
Beatrice flinched, her heart sinking. "I know what you are thinking, Rayn. I see the shadow in your eyes. You think I saw your mother as a burden. You think I cast her out because she lacked the Essence."
Rayn remained silent, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I never thought of her as a burden," Beatrice said, her voice cracking. "I always wanted to take care of her. But this kingdom... it is ruled by the laws my brother established. Cruel, unbreakable rules that state a royal without power is a 'Void-Leper.' To keep the crown stable, I had to treat my own daughter like an outsider. I had to let her go to save her from the Ministers' knives. I am so very sorry, Rayn."
Rayn didn't reply. He didn't have the words to tell her that an apology twenty years late was worth nothing. He only thought of the years his mother had spent in misery while this woman sat on a golden throne. He turned and left the room without a backward glance.
"She thinks an apology makes her mother go away," Rayn thought as he walked down the marble hallway. "I don't care about her guilt. I only want to take my mother back to Earth. I will give her the life she was robbed of here."
As Rayn approached his quarters, a sudden realization struck him like a physical blow. He remembered the garden—Rena, the woman who had lived as a "Normal" her whole life, had spoken to him in perfect English. Not just spoken it, but spoken of rebellion.
He rounded the corner and saw her. Rena was standing in front of his door, her posture straight, her eyes reflecting a cold, ancient light.
"What is it, son?" she asked in perfect, unaccented English. "Are you surprised to see your mother finally speaking the truth?"
Rayn's blood ran cold. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his room, leaving the door slightly ajar in his haste.
"Mother, what is happening?" Rayn demanded. "How do you know English? Who is my father? And how did you know about the 21 Powers when even Grandmother only knows of 19? Who took me to Earth? How did I end up there?"
Rena smiled—a beautiful, tragic expression. She reached out to rub his hair, but Rayn pulled away. "Stop smiling! I want the answers!"
Rena's expression shifted. She dropped the English tongue and spoke in Axleric, her voice resonant and deep.
"The truth, my son, is that you are the son of a Supreme Dragon. You carry the lineage of the Heavens. I think you already know who you are. You have seen them, haven't you?"
Rayn felt the "Dragon's Mark" on his hand pulse with a searing heat. "I see them. They call me 'Master.' But who are they?"
"They are the First Bound," Rena whispered, her eyes wide with a mixture of awe and terror. "Tell me... what color was the dragon you saw?"
"Red," Rayn replied.
Rena suddenly collapsed to her knees, her breath hitching in a sob of pure shock. Rayn rushed to her side, lifting her onto the bed. "Mother! What's wrong?"
"That dragon..." Rena gasped. "The Red Dragon is the First of the Bound. Your father told me a story billions of years ago. A Being of Infinite Power once imprisoned his own dragons within the Void to save them from a Great Calamity. He promised to return one day and release them. I thought it was a myth, Rayn! I thought your father was telling me a fairy tale!"
She gripped Rayn's arms. "A single dragon of the First Bound can eliminate ten planets with a single breath. And if they call you 'Master'... then you are the one the prophecy spoke of. You are the Key."
Rena was about to explain more, about the day Rayn was born and the identity of the man who had spirited him away to Earth, when a sharp, piercing scream erupted from the hallway.
Mable.
Jai's mother had been lurking in the shadows, her jealousy over Rayn's draw with her son driving her to spy. She had been standing by the ajar door, listening. While she didn't understand the English, she understood the Axleric words: Supreme Dragon. Master.
"EVERYONE! COME QUICKLY!" Mable shrieked, her voice carrying through the palace like a siren. "A MONSTER IS AMONG US! RENA AND RAYN ARE DRAGONS!"
The hallway was flooded within minutes. Beatrice, the Ministers, and the Royal Guard arrived, their weapons drawn. Edward, his arm still bandaged, stepped forward with a manic grin. "I knew it! The boy is a freak! He must be executed!"
Beatrice looked at Rena, her heart breaking. "Rena... is it true?"
The Lead Minister stepped forward. "We must know the truth. Summon 'The Justice'!"
Beatrice raised her hand, and a Tier-2 Artifact—a pair of golden scales—manifested in the air. This was the scales of Truth. If a person lied, the scales would turn black. If they spoke the truth, they would glow white.
"Rena," Beatrice whispered. "Did you marry a Dragon? Is Rayn a dragon?"
Rena stood tall. "Yes. I married a Supreme Dragon. My son carries that blood."
The scales erupted in a blinding, pure white light. It was the absolute truth.
The room exploded into chaos. The Ministers roared for blood. "Execution! Purify the bloodline!" Beatrice looked at the scales, her face pale. She had no choice. She nodded her head slowly. "Guards... take them."
The Royal Guards moved forward, their spears leveled at Rayn's chest. Rayn felt a cold, icy rage beginning to boil in his soul. He looked at the men who wanted to kill him and his mother, and the "Void-King" within him snarled.
"You want a monster?" Rayn whispered.
Suddenly, the sky outside the palace turned pitch black. A massive bolt of crimson thunder struck the spire of the tower, tearing through the stone roof. The ceiling exploded in a shower of sparks and marble, and from the heart of the lightning, a weapon descended.
It was the God Slayer.
The sword of King DD. It was a massive blade, pulsating with arcs of violet and crimson thunder. It didn't fall; it arrived, hovering in front of Rayn like a loyal hound returning to its master. The air around the blade was so charged with electricity that the guards were paralyzed, their muscles locked by the weapon's presence.
Rayn reached out. As his fingers closed around the hilt, a massive shockwave of energy exploded outward, throwing the Ministers against the walls. He felt the power of King DD flowing into his veins, his red eyes glowing with an abyssal light.
"Who wants to be the first to die?" Rayn asked, the God Slayer humming with a bloodthirsty intent.
Just as the battle was about to begin, a sudden, world-crushing pressure descended upon the entire Human Kingdom.
It wasn't magic. It was a Vortex so powerful that it felt like the planet itself was being squeezed by a giant hand. Beatrice, a Tier-Peak warrior, felt her knees buckle. The Ministers were slammed into the floor, unable to breathe.
In the gardens below, Alaric and the rest of the team were pinned to the earth. Only Jai, fueled by his own awakening essence, managed to stay upright, though his face was pale with terror.
Rayn stood at the center of the storm, the God Slayer acting as an anchor. He looked at the sky, where a massive, golden-and-black rift was tearing open the atmosphere.
Beatrice looked at the rift, her face filled with a primal shock. "This pressure... what is this?"
Rena didn't look afraid. She looked toward the horizon, at the figures beginning to emerge from the rift. She didn't say anything about the dragons. She didn't mention the Red One. She simply looked at Rayn and spoke the words that ended the era of peace:
"They were arrived."